Lowe's Motor Speedway Bans Talladega Violators

Track officials announced today that the 14 individuals charged with disorderly conduct for throwing items on the race track following the April 29 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series event at Talladega Superspeedway have been permanently banned from attending races at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

"We join other tracks in prohibiting fans who threw objects at Talladega from buying tickets for our races," said H.A. "Humpy" Wheeler, president and general manager of Lowe's Motor Speedway.

"This is not only a crime but a terrible thing to do. Fortunately, 99.9 percent of race fans feel the same way. While it hasn't happened here in a long, long time, we will still take precautions at both the May 19 NASCAR NEXTEL All-Star Challenge and the May 27 Coca-Cola 600."

Those precautions include placing security personnel every 200 feet to watch the grandstands for unruly behavior, using video cameras to monitor grandstands and the use of tactical-style rapid-response teams.

"If we get a report of somebody throwing something and we can identify them, we can go right to them and remove them," Wheeler explained."The guys on these teams are all tactically trained for rapid-response operations."

In 1977, the North Carolina General Assembly enacted legislation making it a misdemeanor to throw anything on a race track.

The law states: "It shall be unlawful for any person to throw, drop, pour, release, discharge, expose or place in an area where an athletic contest or sporting event is taking place any substance or object that shall be likely to cause injury to persons participating in or attending such contest or events or to cause damage to animals, vehicles, equipment, devices, or other things used in connection with such contests or events.

Any person violating the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a Class 3 misdemeanor."

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